New Python 3.0 string formatting - really necessary?

[r]

On Dec 20, 11:11 pm, walterbyrd <walterb... at iname.com> wrote:
> On Dec 20, 5:05 pm, Roy Smith <r... at panix.com>
>
> > He got really hung up on the % syntax.
>
> I guess it's good to know that there is, at least, one person in the
> world doesn't like the % formatting. As least the move was not
> entirely pointless.
>
> But, you must admit, of all the things people complain about with
> Python, the % formatting is probably one of the least common
> complaints. Complaints about Python's speed seem much more common.
>
> Yet, 3.0 makes the speed worse, and "fixes" a non-problem.
>
> I can see where the new formatting might be helpful in some cases.
> But, I am not sure it's worth the cost.

This all really comes down to the new python users. Yea, i said it.
Not rabid fanboys like Steven and myself.(i can't speak for walter but
i think he would agree) Are we going to make sure joe-blow python
newbie likes the language. And doesn't get turned off and run over to
ruby or whoever. Like it or not, without newusers python is doomed to
the same fate as all the other "great" languages who had their 15 mins
of fame.

We must proactively seek out the wants of these new users and make
sure python stays alive. But we also must not sell are pythonic souls
in the process.

It would be nice to get a vote together and see what does the average
pythoneer want? What do they like, What do they dislike. What is the
state of the Python Union? Does anybody know, Does anybody care? I
think python is slipping away from it's dominate foothold on the
world. Google's use of python may be the only thing holding this house
of cards together. Ruby's "hype" is defiantly growing and unless we
strive for greatness, python may fail. I think ruby may have their act
together a little better than us right now. And since Ruby is such a
hodge-podge of different languages, the __init__ hold is there for
many.

what does joe-python want???